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Lotus secures more funding, but five-year plan is dead

The Lotus Exige S Roadster was the company's first new product in the current era. Photo by Lotus

The five-car, five-year plan for Lotus developed under Dany Bahar is dead, according to an Autocar report. But rumor has it that the sexy Esprit concept could be revived at a low cost.

Tan Sri Mohd Khamil Jamil, managing director of the company that owns Lotus parent company Proton, DRB, confirmed that the company sold 70 cars in the U.K. up to the end of May this 2013. It only sold a total of 80 cars there last year.

Jamil told Autocar that the company has “cleaned up and is moving ahead,” and that “new variants based on existing products are on the way.”

Those sales numbers have given the United Kingdom's business secretary Vince Cable a reason to sign off on the $15 million investment as part of the Regional Growth Fund. The RGF was set up to help English businesses train employees and create jobs between now and 2020.

Autocar also confirmed that Proton has signed a deal with Honda, though the managing director declined to discuss the terms.